Written Answers Tuesday 5 April 2005

Scottish Executive

Prison Service

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that there are sufficient numbers of prison officers and adequate training for such officers.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes. The SPS workforce planning and monitoring group consisting of both management and trade union representatives meets regularly to consider staffing levels across establishments and any action required. The model of staff training employed by SPS is underpinned by nationally recognised occupational standards which are recognised throughout the custodial care sector as best practice.

Road Safety

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates have been made of the number of cars speeding in 30mph zones in Dumfries on a typical day.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has made no estimates of this number. Information on the number of cars which exceed the speed limit can come from a number of sources, including safety cameras operated by a partnership within the Scottish Safety Camera Programme and enforcement by police forces outside the programme. As the enforcement is periodic neither of these sources will give a comprehensive picture.

Young People

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the number of 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, training or employment, broken down by area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The most accurate measurement of those aged 16-19 not in education training or employment (NEET) is taken from the 2001 Census of population. Table 1 gives the number of NEET as measured by the 2001 Census.

  In November 2004 the Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey 2003 (ASLFS) was published. This ASLFS was the first Labour Force Survey to contain a Scottish enhancement to the survey size. This allowed the number of NEET in 14 local authority areas to be estimated for the first time. The data from the ASLFS is also included in Table 1. The ASLFS data is more up to date than the Census data, however, there is still a large degree of uncertainty around these estimates as they are based on relatively small sample sizes.

  Table 1 Number of 16-19 year olds not in Education, Employment or Training by Local Authority Area, 2003

  

 
NEET Census 2001
NEET LFS 2003


Scotland
33,391
35,000


Aberdeen City
1,083
**


Aberdeenshire
946
**


Angus
659
1,000


Argyll and Bute
415
1,000


Scottish Borders, The
483
1,000


Clackmannanshire
402
**


West Dunbartonshire
800
1,000


Dumfries and Galloway
948
**


Dundee City
1,168
**


East Ayrshire
944
1,000


East Dunbartonshire
397
1,000


East Lothian
498
**


East Renfrewshire
293
1,000


Edinburgh, City of
2,223
**


Falkirk
1,027
**


Fife
2,421
**


Glasgow City
5,974
6,000


Highland
1,100
**


Inverclyde
651
1,000


Midlothian
451
1,000


Moray
485
**


North Ayrshire
1,181
1,000


North Lanarkshire
2,661
4,000


Orkney Islands
66
**


Perth and Kinross
577
**


Renfrewshire
1,052
**


Shetland Islands
77
**


South Ayrshire
712
1,000


South Lanarkshire
2,025
**


Stirling
393
1,000


West Lothian
1,177
**


Eilean Siar (Western Isles)
102
**



  Note: ** Estimate is below reliability threshold as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

  Labour Force Survey data is rounded to the nearest thousand.